The present invention relates to a cell isolation apparatus which is used in the field of clinics/research of regenerative medicine, or that of cell culture, and more particularly to a cell isolation apparatus which can isolate cells from tissue (body tissue) with a high survival rate.
In order to obtain living cells, tissue is minced with a sharp blade, and the minced tissue is subjected to enzymatic treatment with collagenase or the like to digest the extracellular matrix, thereby obtaining isolated cells.
In the related-art technique, in the enzymatic treatment with collagenase solution, procedures of enzymatic treatment and cell retrieving are repeated. Therefore, the related-art technique requires a very long time period. The related-art technique has further problems such as that the cell retrieving rate is dispersed because of differences in the mincing process with using a blade, the permeation rate in the enzymatic treatment, etc.
A related-art tissue dissociation device in which tissue is dissociated by rotation includes a container having a sterile interior for holding the tissue to be dissociated and a liquid medium, and also a dissociation element, inside the container, for engaging the tissue to cause dissociation of the tissue. The device further includes a resistive element, inside the container, for resisting movement of the tissue in response to the engagement by the dissociation element. In the device, relative motion between the dissociation element and the resistive element, and resistance provided by the resistive element as a result of the motion allow the dissociation element to effectively dissociate the tissue. A powered tissue dissociation device includes a power source operatively connected to the dissociation element for causing the dissociation element to move into engagement with the tissue (see JP-T-2007-505631).
In the related-art device, however, the resistance provided by the resistive element allows the dissociation element to effectively dissociate the tissue, and hence cells collide with the resistive element, thereby causing the possibility that the survival rate of cells is lowered.